Fixture for venetian blinds



May 4, 1954 H. s. ROS ENBAUM FIXTURE FOR VENETIAN BLINDS Original FiledApril 22, 1948 2 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR.

Hariy S. Rosenbaum HIS A TTORNE YS May 1954 H. s. ROSENBAUM FIXTURE FORVENETIAN BLINDS 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Original Filed April 22, 1948 INVENTOR.Harry S. Rosenbaum BY M/H- rim #flguwa/w HIS A T TOR/V5 Y3 Patented May4, 1 954 FIXTURE FOR VENETIAN BLINDS Harry S. Rosenbaum, Baltimore, Md.

Original application April 22, 1948, Serial No.

22,622. Divided and this application September 13, 1952, Serial No.309,467

2 Claims.

My inventions relate to fixtures for Venetian blinds, particularly thosehaving a headrail which both supports and conceals the mechanism foroperating the blind. They relate particularly to metal blinds of thistype and to fixtures for supporting or assembling the blind operatingmecha- IllSIll.

Metal blinds of the type to which my inventions particularly relategenerally have a headrail in the form of a U-shaped channel whichsupports on its base the mechanism for operating the blind, the outerside of the U concealing the operating parts. The operating partsinclude a tilt roller to which the slat tapes are secured and amechanism for rotating the roller to tilt the slats of the blind. Theheadrail also carries a cord lock which holds the cord for raising andlowering the blind in any desired position and several pulleys whichguide the cords for raising and lowering the blind. If the blind is ofsubstantial length the channel also carries intermediate supports forthe tilt roller. All of these parts, with the exception of the cords andtapes, are made of metal. It, therefore, has been the practice tocompletely fabricate metal Venetian blinds at the factory. The channels,tilt rollers, and slats are all cut to length and these parts, togetherwith operating mechanism have been permanently secured to each other asby welding, rivets, presses, etc.

There are many different sized windows and, therefore, retail dealers ofVenetian blinds (generally small concerns) have had to carry in stockquantities of blinds in different sizes in order to supply customerspromptly with the particular size which the customers require. Thus,although it has until recently been the custom to supply metal Venetianblinds in only one shade, a local dealer has had to stock in quantitymore than two hundred different widths. In many instances, the capitaland. storage requirements have been almost impossible for a small dealerto meet. This situation has recently been aggravated by the fact thatmetal Venetian blinds are now manufactured and sold in several difierentcolors.

I have devised fixtures for metal Venetian blinds and particularly forthe operating parts thereof whereby a local dealer can assemble thehimself. A manufacturer can supply to the dealer channels for theheadrails and tubing for the tilt rollers in long lengths and alsooperating mechanism or hardware such as cord locks, tilting mechanism,pulleys, etc. The dealer may cut the channels and tubing for the rollersto the required length and, using fixtures which I have invented,assemble the complete headrail in his own shop. This assembly can bedone without presses, welding or rivetingmachines such as are usuallyavailable only in factories. In fact, the assembly can be done withoutany tools at all. Since the local dealer can make up blinds completewith headrails to any size required and in a very short time he does nothave to carry large numbers of diiferent sized blinds on stock. Byvirtue of my inventions, the dealer carries only long lengths ofheadrail channels and tubing for the tilt rollers in quantitiesproportional to the size of his business.

This application is a division of my application, Serial No. 22,622,filed April 22, 1948, on which Patent No. 2,620,866 issued December 9,1952. That application discloses the subject-matter of this application,but claims only the tilt roller and associated parts which I haveinvented. This application is directed to the fixtures which I haveinvented for installing the cord locks, tilters and associated partswithin the headrails.

In the accompanying drawings, I have illustrated present preferredembodiments of my inventions in which-- Figure 1 is a perspective viewof a headrail for a Venetian blind having a U-shaped channel with partsbroken away to show the manner in which my fixtures are used in aheadrail;

Figure 2 is a partial plan view of the channel forming the headrail;

Figure 3 is an end view of the channel;

Figure 4 is a perspective view of a fixture which I have designed forinstalling operating mechanism in the channel forming the headrail; and

Figures 5 and 6 are perspective views of different operating mechanismswhich may be installed on the fixture illustrated in Figure 4.

A headrail for a metal Venetian blind comprises a channel It which, asshown in Figure 3, is generally U-shaped, having sides H and a base It,the upper edges of the sides having inwardly and reversely curvedflanges !9 to increase the rigidity of the sides. Installation brackets28 and 2| are fitted over each end of the channel to secure the headrailadjacent the top of and between the sides of a window frame.

The channel I6 supports on its bottom 18 and adjacent each end mechanismfor operating the blinds. Such mechanism comprises a tilt rollerdesignated generally by the reference number 22 to which are securedtapes which carry and space the blind slats, the tapes and a few of theslats being indicated in chain lines in Figure 1 at 23 and 24respectively. The roller 22 is supported at one end by conventionaltilting mechanism 25 and at the other end by a conventional cord lockmechanism.26. The tilting mechanism is actuated by rotation of a wheel21, the wheel being rotated by a cord passing around it and extendingdown from the headrail to easy reaching position. The slats are raisedand lowered by cords which pass from points on the bottom rail of theblind adjacent the tapes up over pulleys 28 in the headrail through thecord lock 2?: and down to a point where they can be reached. For clarityof illustration, these cords are not shown in Figure 1 since theirararngement and operation is well known. A large square opening 29, asmaller rectangular opening 30 and a slot 3| are cut in the bottom 3 ofthe channel at both ends of the channel as shown in Figure 2. Theopening 29 allows the tapes 23 to pass through the channel [6 to thetilt roller 22 to which they are connected. The opening 30 providespassage through the channel for the cords which operate the blind andthe slot 3! is used to secure the tilting mechanism and the cord lock tothe channel I8 as will be hereinafter described.

Figure 4 illustrates a fixture which I have devised for securingoperating mechanism such as the tilting mechanism and the cord lock tothe channel. The fixture comprises a base 32, both sides of which haveupwardly extending flanges 33 which add rigidity to the base. A portion3 of the base has sufficient width to support operating mechanism, forexample, the tilting mechanism, and at the same time approximate thedistance between the flanges IS on the channel l6. Another portion 35 ofthe base is reduced in width to such an extent that the side fianges 33adjacent this portion may be used to support and hold in alignmentrollers for guiding the cords which raise and lower the slats such asthe rollers 22 (see Figures 1, 5, and 6). A downwardly and outwardlyextending tongue 35 is formed on one end of the base 32. An end plate 31extends upwardly from the opposite end of the base, preferably the endadjacent the wider portion 34 of the base. This plate increases slightlyin width from its lower edge against the base 32 to its upper edge 38.The upper edge of the plate has two upwardly extending projections 39,which as shown in Figure 4, are on opto align with the openings 29 and3% cut in .i

the channel so that cords for operating blinds can pass through the baseof the fixtures. Slots 42 are also cut in the base to provide means forfastening operating mechanism to the base. As shown in Figures and 6,the tilting mechanism 25 and the cord lock 26 may be secured to thefixture 32 by tongues 43 which extend from their bases through the slots42 and are bent over in presses to permanently secure the mechanism tothe fixture.

A Venetian blind manufacturer may assemble the operating mechanisms tothe fixture 32 and supply these assemblies to the retail dealer. Theretail dealer will assemble them in a headrail in the following manner.A channel it is cut to the required length and the openings 29, 3E! and3! are cut therein near each end of the channel, as shown in Figure 2.The dealer then inserts the tongue 36 of each fixture into one of theslots 3! and presses the opposite end and the plate 31 down between theflanges [9 of the channel. It should here be noted that the portion 34of the base 32 of the fixture is only slightly less in width than thedistance between the flanges 19 so that pressing the fixture downwardlyin the channel tends to spring the sides ll of the chan nel outwardly.When the bottom edge of the plate 3'! contacts the bottom of thechannel, the sides I? of the channel spring inwardly over theprojections 39 on the top of the plate, the projections engaging theinner surface of the inwardly and reversely curved flanges l9. Thetongue 36 and the flanges I9 of the channel in conjunction with theprojections 39 securely hold the fixture and the operating mechanismwhich it supports in the proper position in the channel. The plate 31not only holds the fixture in this position but also laterallyreinforces the sides of the channel.

By means of my inventions a metal Venetian blind can readily beassembled by a local dealer. As noted above, he can obtain from themanufacturer channels for the headrails. He may also obtain hardware"such as tilting mechanism and cord locks, these latter two operatingmechanisms being permanently afiixed at the factory to the fixtures 32,installation brackets, tapes, slats and clips. When he receives an orderfor a blind of a particular size, he can cut the channel to theappropriate length and fasten the tilting mechanism and the cord lock inthe headrail channel as described above. Thereafter, he can assemble atilt roller and install it in the headrail as described in my copendingapplication, Serial No. 22,622. The tilt roller as installed is shown at22 in Figure 1 of the drawings l'erred to herein. Thereafter, the tapesare secured to the tilt roller as described above and the cordsnecessary for operating the blind are threaded through the slats of theheadrail in the conventional manner.

Thus, by virtue of my inventions, all of the parts necessary to make upmetal Venetian blinds may be made in a factory at the low cost madepossible by mass production techniques. At the same time, the retaildealer can assemble these parts without tools and produce Venetianblinds having the same appearance and sturdiness of blinds heretoforeassembled in final form only at factories. The dealer is not required tocarry large quantities of different sizes of fully fabricated blinds instock or maintain machines and equipment such as are usually found onlyin factories.

While I have described certain present preferred embodiments of myinventions, it is to be understood that they may be otherwise variouslyembodied within the scope of the following claims.

I claim:

1. A fixture for a headrail of a Venetian blind in which the headrail isin the form of a channel having inwardly and reversely turned flangesalong its edges, said fixture comprising a base having upturned flangesalong its sides, a portion of the base having a width less than butapproximating the distance between the inwardly turned flanges of thechannel, said base portion adapted to support mechanism for operatingthe blind, the balance of the base decreasing in width whereby theupturned side flanges are adapted to support and hold in alignmentpulleys for operating cords, a plate extending upwardly from one end ofthe base and having projections for engaging theinwardly turned flangeson the channel, and a tongue extending from the 0pposite end of the baseand adapted to fit into a slot cut in the base of the channel.

2. A fixture for a headrail of a Venetian blind in which the headrail isin the form of a channel having along its edges flanges turned inwardlyand reversely in wide open curves, said fixture comprising a baseadapted to support mechanism for operating the blind, a plate extendingupwardly from one end of the base and having projections at its upperend for engaging the inwardly turned flanges on the channel, the widthof the base and of the plate at its lower end being less than thedistance between the inner edges of the flanges on the channel, theprojections being spaced from each other and from the base a sufficientdistance whereby they pass under the wide curves of the flanges alongthe sides of the headrail and are locked in the recesses formed. by theflanges when the base of the fixture rests on the base of the headrailchannel, and a tongue extending from the opposite end of the base andadapted to fit into a slot cut in the base of the channel.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS NumberName Date 2,223,633 McKerle Dec. 3, 1940 2,455,135 Nelson Nov. 30, 19482,494,858 Burns Jan. 17, 1950 2,534,080 Stuber et a1 Dec. 12, 19502,587,752 Nelson Mar. 4, 1952

